Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Telephone Calls'

President Barack Obama on Friday defended his administration's vast data-collection efforts, saying the programs help prevent terrorist attacks and represent only small encroachments of people's privacy.

By

Jared A. Favole And

Peter Nicholas

Updated June 7, 2013 2:13 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama on Friday defended his administration's vast collection of emails and telephone records, saying the programs help prevent terrorist attacks while imposing only "modest encroachments" on people's privacy.

Mr. Obama made clear that his own views of such intelligence-gathering efforts have evolved since he was a candidate for the presidency in 2008. He suggested he is now more comfortable with the "trade-offs" involved in guarding against terrorism.

"I came in with a healthy skepticism about these programs," said Mr. Obama, who fielded a question about the surveillance efforts after delivering a speech on health care in San Jose, Calif. "My team evaluated them, we scrubbed them thoroughly, we actually expanded some of the oversight, increased some of the safeguards. But my assessment and my team's assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks."

The president has come under intense fire from privacy groups and fellow Democrats after the Guardian newspaper published an article Wednesday that a secret court had ordered Verizon Communications Inc. to turn over phone records to the National Security Agency.

Mr. Obama, seeking to reassure people disturbed by the routine collection of millions of phone records, said the government isn't listening in on people's telephone calls or gathering emails of Americans. He said the government is collecting data to help prevent and anticipate terrorist activities.

"When it comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your telephone calls," the president said.

He conceded that people may conclude that he has veered too far in the direction of tighter security.

Mr. Obama said that "it's important to recognize that you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience. You know, we're going to have to make some choices as a society."

He said he welcomes a public debate on the subject. In a major speech last month discussing his approach to terrorist threats, Mr. Obama said he wanted to strike a balance between "our need for security and preserving those freedoms that make us who we are."

The moment underscored a dilemma Mr. Obama faces at this early stage in his second term. He wants to keep a tight focus on his domestic agenda, including the implementation of the health-care overhaul passed in 2010.

But unforeseen events continue to get in the way. His remarks on health care were quickly eclipsed the instant he fielded questions about his administration's surveillance efforts. The comments marked the first time he has publicly addressed the matter since the Guardian article appeared.

Mr. Obama stressed that the executive branch isn't acting unilaterally in sweeping up telephone records. The other two branches have a role in the process, he said. Every member of Congress was aware of the data collection, he said.

Mr. Obama's hope is that the oversight provided by the courts and Congress will ease public fears that the surveillance is an unacceptable assertion of executive power.

He said: "If people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust Congress and don't trust federal judges to make sure that we're abiding by the Constitution, due process and rule of law, then we're going to have some problems here."

The argument is a tough one to make given public skepticism of government as a whole. A recent Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll showed that only 17% had either "quite a bit" or "a great deal" of trust in the federal government. The same survey showed that 42% gave Mr. Obama the highest marks when it comes to being "honest and straightforward." That number is down from 63% when he took office in January 2009.

While the original Guardian disclosure only mentioned telephone calls for Verizon customers, people familiar with the NSA's operations say the initiative also encompasses phone-call data from AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp., records from Internet-service providers and purchase information from credit-card providers.

The Obama administration acknowledged Thursday a secret NSA program dubbed Prism, which a senior administration official said targets only foreigners and was authorized under U.S. surveillance law. The Washington Post and the Guardian reported Thursday the existence of the previously undisclosed program, which was described as providing the NSA and FBI direct access to server systems operated by major tech companies.

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